shellinessn.
/ˈʃɛlɪnɪs/ rare.
1. The condition of being covered with shells.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > water > lake > pool > [noun] > condition of having shelly bottom
shelliness1876
1876 Macmillan's Mag. 34 336 There are limpid pools..where you may wash your feet free from shelliness.
2. Tendency to retire ‘into one's shell’.
ΘΚΠ
society > society and the community > social relations > lack of social communication or relations > [noun] > retiring or withdrawn disposition
withdrawingness1795
retiringness1801
oysterhood1854
shelliness1866
introversion1912
withdrawnness1927
1866 G. MacDonald Ann. Quiet Neighbourhood xvii All I have to suggest for myself is simply a certain shyness... I daresay, likewise, that the natural shelliness of the English had something to do with it.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1914; most recently modified version published online March 2018).
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n.1866